


Four Seasons

by ughfitz (wokemeup)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, And one teensy bit of...misunderstanding, Christmas Fluff, Cozy Christmas, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, FitzSimmons Secret Santa, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, because what's a fic without a lil bit of misunderstanding/miscommunication?, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 22:39:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13200054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wokemeup/pseuds/ughfitz
Summary: This is the tale of Fitz and Simmons, two neighbors who quite literally run into one another. It’s not like those silly rom-coms or cheesy Hallmark shows, but it is a story that is uniquely theirs – one that ends with a cozy Christmas and a happily ever after.As part ofthefitzsimmonsnetwork'sSecret Santa Exchange over on Tumblr; forjemmablossom!





	Four Seasons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [youarethelight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/youarethelight/gifts).



> I am very excited to finally reveal my Secret Santa identity to [jemmablossom](http://jemmablossom.tumblr.com/)! Your prompt of 'A Cozy Christmas' was very fun to play around with, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it <3
> 
> Endless thanks to [agentcalliope](http://agentcalliope.tumblr.com/) for taking a look at this and making it better...you're the best!

****

**Spring**

They say _when it rains, it pours_. And while Jemma did love rainy days (they reminded her of home), it wasn’t exactly the best day for a downpour.

It was one of those early Spring storms that flooded the streets and made a mess of the sidewalks, the dirt from gardens melting out and turning everything into mud. Sighing as she looked up at a particularly ominous cloud, Jemma tucked her phone back into her purse and prepared for a mad dash to the back seat of her car.

It was like a movie, honestly. A cheesy rom-com where, if you stopped to think about the plot, you knew for a fact it could never happen in real life. But there she was, shirt soaked, bum dirty, sitting on the ground while her once neatly folded stack of clothes flew off into the stormy spring sky.

 _When it rains, it pours_.

So, of course in typical embarrassing event fashion, this box was filled with her undergarments, and _of course_ her one pair of bright red panties (if you could even call the piece of scrap fabric panties) landed right on the face of the young man passing by.

Letting out a startled _oof_ , she assessed the slight pain in her bum and realized it was nothing compared to the stinging burn of embarrassment she felt from making a fool of herself in front of anyone.

Rushing to push herself up, she quickly snatched the offending undergarment from him and muttered a thousand different apologies. Lucky for her, he seemed to be more flustered than her and quickly walked away, his cheeks burning nearly the same bright red as the scrap of fabric in her hands. The entire exchange happened so quick that she didn’t even have time to think too much about how she’d quite like to hear more the of the Scottish accent that accompanied the mop of curls that billowed out from underneath the hood of his raincoat. Never mind the flash of those brilliant blue eyes that made her stomach flutter and momentarily forget her humiliation.

And that was how they met...literally crashing into each other’s lives like the crackle of a spring thunderstorm. Only, it wasn’t a bad omen like Jemma had initially thought. What’s that saying?

Oh, right.

_April showers bring May flowers._

**Summer**

It was a sweltering summer, one that had her opening the windows to let some of the heat out, even if it meant more bugs buzzing in. The static heat was suffocating, the sweat dripping down from the crown of her head pooled at the collar of her shirt but had little effect on her plans to move. Her head lolled to the side of the couch as she flicked the button on the remote hoping to hear some news about cooling temperatures. Picking up her phone after feeling it buzz from somewhere on the table, she found herself smiling despite the otherwise hellish feeling from the overheated apartment.

Quickly replying back, she placed the phone back on the table and rushed to straighten up her apartment, though there really wasn’t much of a mess to clean up.

After three quick raps on the door indicated her guest had arrived, she allowed herself one small peek in the mirror, only wishing the heat could have made her hair a little less sweaty and a little more sleek. Sighing, she pulled open the door and was greeted by the sight of her favorite neighbor.

“Fitz!” she exclaimed.

“Hi, Jemma!” he replied back equally as excited. Since their fateful run in to one another, she discovered that despite missing the comforts of home, Fitz – her neighbor, sweets supplier (he was an excellent baker), and slowly but surely turning into her best friend – made the bitterness of being away from home a little more bearable.

The apartment complex where they lived was small but filled with a variety of kind folk, though none had nestled into her life the way Fitz had. After they had both eventually gotten over their embarrassing spring run in, they had quickly learned that they quite enjoyed the presence of each other. And so, like every Friday evening, Fitz knocked three times on her door and Jemma, not usually so flustered (it was the heat, she reasoned), let him in and they settled on a show, waiting for the pizza to arrive while happily munching on the stack of no-bake treats Fitz had brought over with him.

Rom-coms would have you believe that they were bound to fall in love, their male female relationship doomed to the throes of passion and romance. But as Jemma assured herself every time she saw him, they were content to remain friends – no matter the rush of _something_ they both felt when they woke up the next morning, limbs entwined in one another’s, her head tucked beneath his head. The twin blushes they wore were simply just a side effect of the heat, after all.

Unlike those rom-coms, they were _just_ friends. Not accidental lovers who happened to crash into each other’s lives, who spent every Friday watching their favorite shows side-by-side eating too much junk food and who woke up the next morning curled into each other like a little more than best friends would.

They were simply neighbors...who perhaps lacked the typical spatial boundaries that most neighbors did. Besides, the summer heat would drive anyone to do things they normally wouldn’t do, right?

**Autumn**

Autumn, Jemma’s favorite time of the year, brought with it a flurry of changing leaves, two new jumpers (one courtesy of Fitz), and the need to sign up for a gym membership after diligently testing out the plethora of Fitz’s baked goods. After all, it was her duty as best friend and friendly neighbor to do so.

And so, as per their usual _Wednesday_ night tradition (their Fridays still remained the same), three knocks rang out and Jemma scampered over to let him in. Only, Fitz wasn’t alone, and standing by his side was not the hacker friend she had imagined (in all honesty, perhaps her conjured up image of a rather plump teenage-faced man in an oversized jacket with grease stains had been a bit too detailed and stereotypical), but rather a lovely young woman with a wide, toothy smile, and a stack of board games. Daisy was her name, and just like the current season, she brought with her a world of change.

So maybe it bothered Jemma just a little more than it should when Daisy snuggled her way in between her and Fitz each Wednesday, and maybe just maybe it irked Jemma a little more than it should for just a best friend when Daisy looked at Fitz like more than a best friend (never mind that Daisy was on a strict No Relationship diet after her last tumultuous relationship). And yes, it really did bother Jemma when their Saturday mornings couldn’t begin with tangled limbs and the steady rise and fall of Fitz’s chest beneath her head.

So like any good story, there came a conflict. Maybe it wasn’t like the movies – there was no screaming match or objects being flung at one another. It was simply a season full of tight smiles, longing looks, and many sighs.

Sure, Fitz still came over on Wednesdays and Fridays – but so did Daisy. And Jemma, being the best friend and good neighbor, found it so hard to begrudge either of her two friends, because in all honesty, she couldn’t fault them. Fitz deserved a happy ending, and Daisy was quickly becoming another close friend – she only wanted the best for them.

But one Tuesday, when Jemma had fallen rather ill to a nasty pre-Winter cold that had been making the rounds at work, she was surprised to hear the signature three knocks indicating Fitz’s arrival.

Letting him in, her nose bright red like those unmentionables from the past Spring, and hair almost identical to that look she sported for nearly all of the sweltering summer, she wheezed out a quiet greeting, her voice muffled by her blocked sinuses.

Fitz, being the kind neighbor and diligent best friend that he was, had readied her a nice goodie bag filled with her favorite teas, a large mug of his famous chicken noodle soup, and more sweets than she thought possible.

“Jemma,” he deadpanned when she had tutted about the amount of sugar he had given her. “The best way to get the sick away, is to eat a big cookie,” he looked down at the plate of them, “and a cuppa Earl Grey.”

Rolling her eyes and trying desperately to keep her smile hidden, she reluctantly let Fitz in where they sat on her couch watching spooky movies and enjoying his gift ( _honestly, Fitz, I thought the cookies were for_ me!).

And when he cancelled their next Friday date (a weekly scheduled activity, not an _actual_ date) because he was sick and Daisy was out of town anyways, she knocked three times on his door and treated him to the best soup, cookies, and tea the shop just down the street had to offer.

It was the best Friday night she had had in a long time. And after much cajoling and maybe one too many drinks, she admitted that she rather missed their Fridays being just the two of them. And Fitz, poor thing stuffed up and equally as loopy on his cold medicine, admitted that he too missed it being just the two of them.

As it was even later confessed under a mound of tissues and leftover cookie crumbs, neither party wanted Daisy gone, (in fact, Jemma was rather grateful for Daisy and their times spent chatting about this or that), but both desperately missed their Friday night routine – the easy back and forth flow of science jargon and other Fitz and Simmons nonsense that only happened when it was just the two of them.

So, when Daisy showed up the next morning fresh from her travels to the sight of her two best friends curled up on the couch with a blanket thrown haphazardly on them, she smiled brightly, her plan of getting the two smartest people she knew (but absolutely idiotic when it came to seeing their blatantly obvious love for one another) together was back on track. Taking a cookie for the road and moving the blanket to cover them more, she left with a wide smile and one adorable picture of the two.

As October faded and turned to November, Daisy came up with flimsier after flimsier excuses to miss their Friday nights (but not Wednesdays, no, those nights were still set for board games and laughing until you cried) until it was clear that it was a designated neighbors-only night.

But, again, this wasn’t _those_ kinds of rom-coms, nor the cheesy holiday movies played over and over on the television. Jemma and Fitz were simply two neighbors and best friends who loved to play board games on Wednesday nights with their other best friend Daisy, spend Fridays platonically snuggled up on the couch, wake up on Saturdays wrapped in each other’s arms, and spend the rest of the days catching up on work shenanigans or gossiping about the rumors that their across neighbor, Melinda May, was part of a secret society.

They were simply best friends.

Nothing more, nothing less.

**Winter**

Except, come late December, when Jemma was sitting on her couch one Wednesday night and Daisy was munching on the little chocolate she had received in the Advent calendar they were sharing and Jemma looked over at Fitz and saw him laughing at something funny did it sink in. As if a light clicked, she realized that the fuzzy feeling she got when Fitz had crashed into her back in Spring, and when he knocked on her door during the Summer, or when their Friday nights returned to just the two of them only a few weeks earlier in late Autumn, wasn’t just a one-time thing. It wasn’t something that was going away anytime soon, or at all. Rather suddenly, she realized that she was quite maddeningly and overwhelmingly in love with her neighbor and best friend.

So, obviously, Jemma frantically texted Daisy the very next day that she needed her help. Daisy showed up only thirty minutes later, and Jemma quickly pulled her into the apartment, locked her door, a wild look on her face, and with just a little guilt confessed to her friend her current situation. She only weakly glared at Daisy when she had simply laughed and said, “Of course you’re in love with him! You know, for someone who stares at things up close for a living, you sure missed what was right in front of you!”

Confused by her sudden rush of feelings and a little offended on Fitz’s behalf by Daisy’s sudden lack of interest in Fitz, Jemma sputtered out a defiant “But don’t you have feelings for him too?!” After an over-the-top reenactment of being sick (trash bin included for extra effect), Daisy simply rolled her eyes and assured her friend that she felt nothing but friendly, _platonic_ love for Fitz. Apparently, much like Jemma’s initial over-imagination of Daisy, she had mistaken Daisy’s friendly looks for the looks of a lover. And now thinking about it, perhaps those friendly looks Fitz had been giving her may have been the _real_ looks of a lover. It was too confusing for Jemma to sort through on her own, and she was eternally grateful to have Daisy there to walk her through it all.

The two of them spent the evening working out a plan like two (wine-tipsy) middle school girls at a sleepover on how Jemma, in a very cheesy Christmas movie-like plan, was going to confess to Fitz her love for him and kiss him passionately under the glow of the twinkling Christmas lights. They laughed, they plotted, and they eventually ordered pizza after both of their stomachs growled so loud Daisy was certain an animal was on the loose.

And the next morning, once the sun stopped blinding her and her head stopped pounding, Jemma thanked Daisy, for everything, and wished her a happy Christmas in case she didn’t see her before she left on her holiday getaway with her _we’re just friends_ friend, Trip.

The following Wednesday arrived and Fitz and her enjoyed the evening playing board games and complaining that it wasn’t nearly as fun without Daisy thinking she was getting one over them every time she got up to stretch and gasped dramatically that, no she was _not_ cheating!  

Still, it was nice just having the evening to themselves, snow falling peacefully outside, the fireplace roaring and casting a pleasant glow over the two of them. And as her eyes got heavier, the television blurred, and Fitz snuggled closer to her in an attempt to warm himself up from her freezing hands, she smiled and nearly ruined her and Daisy’s carefully crafted plan.

Instead, she stuck to the plan and the next morning she carefully untangled herself from Fitz, snuck a soft peck to the tip of his nose, and crept out of his apartment and over to hers. After quickly freshening up and getting the necessary supplies, she locked everything up and trudged back over to his apartment.

Knocking three times, she waited until she heard the all-too familiar sound of Fitz walking to the door and smiled when he opened it.

Groggy and a bit confused as to why Jemma had left, Fitz yawned loudly as he let her in. Smiling at him and wishing him a happy Christmas Eve, Jemma explained that they had loads to do and they simply couldn’t waste another minute, even if it was “too bloody early” as Fitz had complained before shutting up for a bit as he munched on a piece of toast.

After several more complaints from Fitz, Jemma waited eagerly while Fitz got ready. They spent the morning baking – well Fitz baked while she wrapped the last minute presents she knew he had waited to wrap until the last minute – and singing horribly off-key until Fitz’s neighbor (a man by the name of Vaughn) banged on the wall and told them to get each other some singing lessons. It was quite the picture perfect Christmas Eve morning, and it was all going according to The Plan.

Later in the day after helping themselves to several cookies and Jemma’s famous sandwich, they bundled up and went outside to, of all things, sled. She’d recently relented and watched one of those cheesy movies on the Hallmark channel and, having never sled with someone else before, had decided that it was a must-do for her and Fitz. They laughed and crashed their way down the hill, and when they returned to Fitz’s apartment, they hurried to rid themselves of their wet jackets and socks, and huddled close by each other in front of the fireplace. They sipped hot chocolate loaded with far too many marshmallows, heated up the pizza Jemma had ordered after the cinnamon-scented candle had made them both hungry, and poked fun at the stupidly cheesy movies they watched for the rest of the evening.

And when she woke the next morning, her plan long forgotten, wrapped up in Fitz’s arm, his incredibly blue eyes (had they gotten bluer overnight?) peering down at her, she didn’t hesitate to stretch her head up and press her lips to his. Fitz, for his part, smiled widely back at her when they broke apart and wasted no time kissing her back.

And much later, when Jemma had confessed her feelings to Fitz, smiling at him when he was _still_ baffled that Jemma shared his feelings, they unwrapped presents and laughed when they realized they had each given each other the same book they had been eagerly waiting for all year long. Highly satisfied in both their presents and the close presence of one another (and maybe the half dozen pecks they snuck in), they ate the meal Fitz had prepared earlier, and cozied up on their couch watching more unbearably silly rom-coms and Christmas movies, sneaking kisses under the glow of the TV and the twinkle of Christmas lights.

So, no. This was not a silly rom-com or a cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie.

It was simply a story where boy crashed into girl, girl fell asleep watching movies with the boy, a slight misunderstanding ensues, but then boy bakes the girl goodies, girl helps the boy wrap some presents, boy and girl realize that they’ve been in love all along, and they have a very cozy Christmas. It was a story that took place over four seasons as two strangers who were actually neighbors, then became friends – _best_ friends – and eventually more than that.

It was just the beginning of the story of Jemma and Fitz and their life together – a life that spans more than just four seasons, as any lasting love does.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading...comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! 
> 
> Want to chat? Find me over on [Tumblr](http://ughfitz.tumblr.com/)!


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